1 Killing site(s)
Anna H., born in 1930: "I witnessed the execution of Jews from Oradivka labor camp from a hill approximately 500 meters away. The victims, having dug the pit themselves two days prior, were lined up irregularly near it, facing it, fully dressed. Around twenty Germans were present, shooting them from behind. After briefly watching the massacre, I went home, hearing shots for some time afterward. The Germans left in their truck once it was over. The next day, I visited the site to find a long, freshly filled pit, still moving, over 2 meters deep." (Testimony N°YIU1092U, interviewed in Oradivka, on December 15, 2010)
Talalaivka and Oradivka, neighboring villages about 200 km (124 mi) southwest of Cherkasy, had a sparse Jewish presence before the war. Mostly inhabited by Ukrainians, there were a few Jewish families, including Yosa, a store owner in Talalaivka, and several Jewish residents in Oradivka. While farming was the primary occupation for most locals, Jewish residents were often involved in trade. Notably, six Jews worked at the Oradivka mill, overseen by a Jewish woman manager. Before the occupation, the Jewish inhabitants managed to evacuate eastwards.
Talalaivka and Oradivka came under German occupation in late July/early August 1941, transitioning to German civil administration shortly thereafter. Ukrainian police units were established in both villages, while the German administration operated from the nearby district center, Khrystynivka.
In early 1943, a Jewish labor camp was established in the Talalaivka barn, housing 222 Jews, and later in the Oradivka sheepfold, accommodating 92 Jews from North Bukovina and Bessarabia. They were transferred from other labor camps in Teplyk, Ositna, Ivangorod, and Krasnopilka. Witnesses report that both camps were enclosed by barbed wire fences and guarded by local, Lithuanian, and possibly Hungarian policemen. Jewish detainees were forced to wear identifying numbers and relied on locals for food, trading valuables and clothing. Under guard, they were coerced into labor for the construction of the DGIV highway, linking Vinnytsia to Uman.
On December 17, 1943, both camps were liquidated, with at least 188 inmates murdered in an Aktion carried out by Germans and policemen. Jewish inmates were escorted on foot to the execution site, located in the ravine between the villages of Talalaivka and Oradivka, where a pit had previously been dug by the Jews themselves. Those unable to walk were killed either in the camps or on their way to the execution site, while other Jews were brought to the ravine, lined up at the edge of the pit and shot dead. No memorial stands in remembrance of these victims. Remarkably, 126 Jews escaped from the Talalaivka camp the day prior the massacre.
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